Page 74 of Fatal Thrill
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Night had closed in,heavy and wet. Jaya’s breath fogged in front of her as Jon led the way with his flashlight through the danktunnel.
Regardless of her Gypsy and Osage blood that both gave her a healthy respect of the dead, climbing through an ancient Irish vault with numerous caskets, and a tunnel that ran for miles, wasn’t high on her list of fun things todo.
Cobwebs hung from the low ceiling. In the shadows, rats and other creatures stirred. Shivers ran up and down Jaya’sspine.
She held Jon’s hand tightly, keeping her own flashlight pointed at the stone and dirt floor. Rivulets of water ran down the walls and the smell of ancient death and decay filled hernose.
These are mypeople.
Or were they? Her hand floated past a raised concrete casket whose inscription was worn and spotted.Murphee. It had been a little girl who’d died at birth. They hadn’t even given her a first name. Jaya bit back a curse. There were too many children buried here. Too muchgrief.
Even with the modern technology and better living conditions they enjoyed, she prayed her and Jon’s baby would beokay.
According to her father, the cross was not in any of these caskets in the O’Sullivan burial grounds, but she hoped she and Jon weren’t on a wild goose chase, following the tunnel to Blackrock. Her father had seemed earnest, but she’d learned long ago that his “truth” wasn’t necessarily fact. He always had a reason behind misleading or downright lying to you, but she wished with all her heart that she could believehim.
Too many times, he’d lied to her, Finn, and their mom, deserted them for endless months, and then showed up on their doorstep unannounced and in need of family. Or money. Or a clean bed. Take your pick. Why her mother had never divorced him was beyond Jaya, but what was that saying? Love is blind? Sometimes love was gullibletoo.
The CSI techs had left hours ago. The Gypsies had not returned. Percy had informed them that the body in the cemetery was indeed the black market criminal namedMoreau.
Behind them, Miles and Charlotte spoke in soft voices, Charlotte seeming to love the adventure while Miles spoke in one-syllable monotones that told Jaya he was less than happy to go cross hunting. She knew thefeeling.
Guarding the entrance to the giant crypt, Shelby and Colton endured the rain andcold.
Never in her life had Jaya imagined entering an old, abandoned graveyard and going on a treasure hunt. Even with all the stories her dad had told, she’d always pictured the search for hidden jewels and coins would be more fun and less…moist.
She rubbed a finger under her nose, squelching a sneeze. The dust was as prevalent as the mold, a seeming conundrum, but as real as her present state of mental seesawing. Was finding the cross imperative to rescuing Finn? Was she wasting her timehere?
At least the baby had settled down a bit, the queasiness easing up enough that she wasn’t battling that on top of everything else.In fact, I’d kill for a cheeseburger rightnow.
Or that pepperonipizza.
“Watch your step.” Jon illuminated a rise in the floor. The stones had parted, leaving a crack, one of them pushing upwards. He held her elbow, guiding her over it. “You really should have stayed at the hospital with yourdad.”
“Like I need you making me feel guilty,” sheteased.
He looked properly admonished. “I’m not laying on guilt. This isn’t the smartest thing for a pregnant woman to bedoing.”
“Never claimed I wassmart.”
“You have more common sense than most people Iknow.”
“You’re friends with Colton Bells. Can’t say your point of reference is particularlyaccurate.”
He laughed softly, as if worried he would disturb the ghosts. “There is some truth to that, Jaya WindCatcher.”
Her pulse skipped. No one called her that. “I like it when you say my name likethat.”
The caskets came to an end and the tunnel shrank. Jon had to bend at the waist to see into it, his flashlight bouncing off the narrowed walls. “Any thoughts on names for ourbaby?”
The placards of the long-dead infants floated through her mind. Sadness for them seeped into her very bones. Thank goodness she had Jon to keep her from sinking into that cesspool. “We’re in an underground burial site and you want to discuss babynames?”
“I’ve seen a few interesting ones in here.” He shrugged, easing into the confined tunnel. “Got me to thinking aboutit.”
“Yeah?” She followed him, not having to stoop as much as he did. “Likewhat?”
“Nathan, Absalom, Hannah,Jefferson.”
